Transplant
by stormyskies73
Summary: The Virals are on the trail of another ancient cold case - a string of murders that took place during and after the Korean War. They soon realize they're being followed, and things get weird when a twist of fate results in Ella finding herself -literally- in the wrong place at the wrong time. Will the Virals solve the mystery? And will Ella ever get home? Eventual Hila and Hawpper.
1. Prologue

**Hi! So, Virals is my favourite book series, and M*A*S*H is my favourite TV series, and this happened. You don't need to have read Virals and watched M*A*S*H to read this, but it'll make more sense if you know about one of them. And if you really, really hate Hi/Ella or Hawkeye/Trapper, this is probably not going to be your thing. Don't say I didn't warn you.**

**It's a little AU, because Chance is not Viral, Trinity does not exist, Ella knows about the flares, and this takes place somewhere between Season 2 and Season 3 but mentions a character who I don't think appeared until later. It is only going to get more AU from there...**

**It's a little bizarre, but hey, I wrote it, so what do you expect? :) It should still be pretty cool, though.**

**Disclaimer: I will say this only once - I do not own Virals or M*A*S*H.**

* * *

South Korea, 1951

The body was found in the early morning by a young Army nurse. Her screams woke everyone else, and for a while everyone just stood and stared at the corpse of a man who, only yesterday, was alive and well, or at least as well as one could be in a warzone.

The cause of death was initially unknown. He was shot three times; once in the stomach, once in the heart, and once in the head.

His killer was among the crowd, faking alarm so convincingly no-one would guess he had been involved.

This was not the first body found. In fact, it was number fifteen in a string of unsolved murders. The victims were all stationed in this particular unit, and were all shot three times. Each time, no-one had heard the gunshots. The killer was much too clever for that...

There was no time for launching an investigation. As the body is moved, the killer slips away.

This wouldn't be the last body found either.

He would never be caught.


	2. Chapter 1

**I should probably mention here that the first four chapters will be mainly Virals.**

* * *

"So, what have we got?" Since the Gable case, the Virals had made it their mission to solve any crime that came their way. After all, their mutated DNA had to be good for something. So far, however, they had nothing, so Tory, as their leader, had called a meeting in the bunker,requesting the pack tried to find a case beforehand.

"I got nothing." Ben replied indifferently.

"Someone hacked the Ben & Jerry's website and took it out of action." Shelton suggested.

"That was _you!" _

"Fine. I'd like to see what you've come up with, Tory Brennan!"

"Someone broke into Madison Dunkle's house the other day. Maybe we could help out there?"

"You hate her, she hates us."

"True. Hi?"

"Nada."

"Ella?" Ella Francis, despite not being a Viral, was in on the secret. They considered her to be a part of the pack, hence she had been invited along.

"I think I have something."

"Let's hear it then." The pack moved closer to their human comrade. "It's nothing major, just some old cold case."

"Well, it's better than nothing." Hiram Stolowitski shrugged. It was no secret he had a crush on the sliughtly older girl, and equally obvious she had no idea. Shelton and Ben kept trying to persuade him to tell her, and he just kept procrastinating.

"Do you guys know anything about the Korean War? Well, during that time period, there was this one MASH unit-"

"Why are we talking about potatoes?"

"We're not. It stands for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. Anyway, this one unit had all these shootings in the dead of night, but no-one ever heard a gunshot and the crime scene was staged. The bodies were all found in the compound, but they weren't killed there. And here's the thing: after the war the murders continued. Every victim had served in this unit. MASH 4077th." She paused. "So what do you think?"

"Pointless." Ben Blue hadn't been too thrilled about a human among the ranks, but it had been too hard to keep the truth from her. He still hadn't fully accepted her. "That case went cold half a century ago. There's nothing in it."

"Well, like Hi said, it's better than nothing." Tory smiled at her friend. "Thanks."

"I'm in." Shelton Devers was normally reluctant to be involved in Viral cases, but he almost seemed pleased at this one. "Maybe this time I won't get shot at."

"I'll do it." Hi added.

"Then let's go!" Tory began to lead the way out of the bunker.

"Go where?" Shelton asked.

"I have no idea."

"Cold cases." Ben commented pointedly. "Nowhere to begin."

"Oh, shut up, Blue." Ella scowled. "Cold cases are better than nothing."


	3. Chapter 2

"You were right, Ells." The five of them were huddled around a table in Charleston's libraries, researching the case. "Everyone killed was stationed at the 4077th. No exceptions." Hi continued.

"These aren't just murders. This is a crusade." Tory replied. "Now how do we figure out whodunnit?"

"This is why we need current cases." Ben remarked.

"I say we make a list of everyone who was ever stationed there and cross reference it with a list of the murder victims. If anyone appears in the first list but not the second, chances are it's the killer." Hi suggested.

"Then how do we find motive?" Ella asked, looking over gratefully at Hi.

"Research?" Shelton returned to the realm of the Internet as soon as he'd said it.

* * *

Two hours passed with little success.

"No good. I've got a couple of people who didn't get killed, but one of them was stateside when the murders began and the other was stateside by the end of the war. No good." Tory sighed.

"Maybe we're looking for more than one killer."

"If that's the case, Shelton," the redhead responded, "we have no chance."

"I told you so." Ben singsonged. Ella whacked him with her braid.

"Do you want to call it a day?" She asked her friends.

"Yep.' Ben got up from the table.

"Maybe we'll have a fresh perspective tomorrow." Hi tried to reassure her.

"I'm sick of Korea." Shelton muttered.

"Wait!" Tory stopped them. "You see that guy over there?" She indicated a thick-set man with dark glasses, a hat and an expensive-looking suit. "He keeps looking over at us. It's almost like he's watching what we're doing."

"Is there a connection?" Shelton was starting to panic. "I thought this case would be _safe!"_

"How could there be a connection?" To be fair, Ben did have a point.

"I don't know. Still, I think we should be careful." Tory shot one last look at the man, before heading out.

* * *

The man watched the five teenagers exit the building. _What were they doing, researching the case?_ Surely there was no new insight to be gained. The killer had ensured he could not be traced. He wore gloves and used stolen weapons, and killed far from anyone. He couldn't be connected to the murders.

These kids were different, he could see it. He had to stop them discovering the truth.

He had to protect the killer's legacy.


	4. Chapter 3

The man had followed the pack everywhere for the past three days. On the way back to the ferry after school they would see him lurking nearby. On occasion he'd drive past their houses, and no way was that a coincidence. Morris Island was pretty much the middle of nowhere. There was no question about it. They were being stalked.

"Thank God that's over!" Tory and Ella, as very reluctant members of the Magnolia League, had spent their evening helping with a charity event with pretentious people they had never gotten along with, and the appearance of their stalker had made things even worse. They'd only seen him for a second, so they'd been able to put it down to sheer paranoia, but even so it had set them on edge.

"Yep. Hated every minute."

"Do you think we're any closer to figuring out who our murderer is?"

"Nope." Although the Virals had spent the time following up every angle they could think of, they'd come up with nothing. " Maybe we should focus on our stalker. If we figure out who he is, maybe we could find a link between him and the case and then maybe we'd have a lead." Ella suggested, still slightly embarrassed that her cold case had given them nothing.

"It's worth a try."

* * *

The man watched the two girls, tracking them in the shadows. He hadn't expected to see the redhead away from the boys and that desolate little island she apparently called home. In fact, stumbling upon them at their society gathering had been a stroke of luck. Thankfully, they appeared to know nothing. That, however, could change very soon if they began trying to find out more about him.

The redhead and her dark-haired companion parted ways at the dock, with the arrival of the tall Native American boy from the library in a boat. The brunette was alone as she began the walk back to wherever it was she lived.

Perfect.

* * *

Ella had the overwhelming feeling that she was being watched. She shivered in spite of the warm South Carolina air and quickened her pace slightly. _It's alright, Ella, _shethought to herself. _He isn't here._

She heard footsteps behind her and turned around, only to catch sight of a familiar silhouette. _Oh, no._

She turned and ran. _If only I could flare!_ It often occurred to her that, if she had become friends with Tory Brennan earlier, she would have been there when the Virals (before they were Viral) broke into the lab on Loggerhead Island. She would have been infected with the virus and gained the same abilities as the others. Heightened senses. Increased strength. Enhanced speed. Those qualities would really come in useful at that moment. Instead, however, she was stuck with her own non-Viral skill set, and whilst she was still a fast runner, it was vastly inferior. Behind her, the man started running too.

He was catching up. She looked over her shoulder to see how far the distance was between them, and tripped.

Her head hit the wall and she lost consciousness.


	5. Chapter 4

**Things are about to get very weird for Ella...**

* * *

The next thing she knew, she was staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling and artificial lights, and her head was bandaged. She studied her surroundings carefully, trying to piece together any clues that might tell her where the hell she was.

The room was relatively spacious, but crowded with what looked like basic hospital beds, most of which were empty. _So I'm in hospital. That's good, right? _That would account for the bandage, at least. However, most of the room's decor was a dull army green, and that struck the girl as strange. _So maybe I'm not in a hospital. I'd assume it would be white if I was, so where am I? And how did I get here? _She tried to remember if she'd been anywhere similar in her life, but came up blank. _My head hurts so bad..._ She closed her eyes, just for a moment.

* * *

"Have you guys heard anything from Ella?" Tory asked the rest of the pack. They had agreed to meet up and see if they could get any new information on their stalker and the murderer (Hi had dubbed him the Korean Ripper, but it hadn't caught on), yet Ella was nowhere to be seen. Since the Virals lived on Morris and Ella was from Charleston, she had taken to renting a boat and meeting them there, and was saving up to buy one. Yet her friends hadn't seen her arriving; the sea was undisturbed save for the occasional dolphin.

"Nope." Ben shook his head. "Nothing."

"Radio silence." Hi was checking his phone as he said it. He knew Ella would be more likely to call Tory, her best friend, than him - after all, they only knew each other through her, and it wasn't like they were dating - but he still held out that hope.

"The stalker got her, didn't he?" Shelton was tugging on his earlobe again. Nervous habit. "I shoulda known this was gonna end badly."

"We don't know that for sure." Tory replied, but inside she suspected her friend was right.

"Should we go look for her?" Hi asked.

"Not until we know we have to." Ben countered. "Maybe she just lost her phone and couldn't find the money for the boat. Or maybe she's just grounded."

"That might be the most you've said all year, Blue." Hi backed down when Ben glared at him threateningly.

"Well, if there _is _something wrong," Tory answered grimly, "there's gonna be hell to pay." If Ella was missing, the Virals would find her. No matter what.

* * *

Ella must have fallen asleep again, because when she woke up around half the cots - she'd decided that was the best word - were occupied, and she could tell that her initial assumption was correct. _This is definitely some kind of hospital ward, but it's not in Charleston. _

"Excuse me," she grabbed a random stranger's arm. Not something she would normally do, but she needed to get attention, and she needed answers. "Where am I?" She looked up at the man she'd stopped imploringly.

"You don't know?" He replied, confused.

"No."

"MASH 4077th. South Korea."

"What?" Ella closed her eyes. "This cannot be happening to me..."


	6. Chapter 5

**In this chapter, Ella gains an ally and the mystery of What Happened To Spearchucker is finally solved! Sort of.**

* * *

"OK." Ella sighed. She had to work out how she'd got here. "Let's start from the beginning. I'm Ella Francis."

"Trapper John McIntyre." Her blond companion replied. "I'm the one who found you."

"Well, that's one mystery cleared up." She tried to work out what to say next. "Trapper - can I call you that? - would you believe me if I told you that I was born in 1997 and that five minutes before my accident I'd been in twenty-first century South Carolina?"

"How hard exactly did you hit your head?"

"I'm telling the truth!" She protested. "Look, I'll prove it to you. Do you know what happened to my bag?" Someone had kicked it under her cot. She reached in and pulled out her phone. "Would I have been able to get _this _in the 1950s?"

"Holy crap..." Trapper stared at her in shock.

"Welcome to the club. I'm just as freaked out as you are." Ella replaced the device - it wouldn't work for years, anyway. "Now you know my secret, what's yours?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I'm curious. And it's only fair. What's your secret?"

"I don't have any secrets." He said quickly, but Ella noticed his eyes flit sideways, in the direction of a dark-haired man on the other side of the room.

"_Of course _you don't. What's his name?"

"Hawkeye Pierce, and there is _nothing _going on between us. At all." He changed the subject as Ella contemplated the interesting names people seemed to have out there. "So, Future Girl, what happens now?"

"I guess I just sit tight until I can think of a plan to get home." She swung her feet down onto the floor and stood up. Looking down at her blue and white sundress and flip-flops, she realized she couldn't have looked more out of place if she'd tried. "Do you know where I could get myself some new clothes?"

* * *

Two days after Ella's disappearance, her family reported it to the police. Since becoming an honorary Viral, she'd vanish for hours on end to assist in whatever misadventure came next, but 48 hours lost was worrying. When she was officially declared missing, the Virals began to investigate. They tried to recreate her path home, and Tory's flare power and Cooper the wolfdog smelled blood on a wall.

"So she walks home and trips?" Ben asked. "No way. That stain required more force than that."

"Maybe she was running from someone?" Hi suggested. "She trips, injures her head, is knocked unconscious and gets dragged or carried away by whoever was chasing her."

"Probably our stalker." Shelton added. "She's gonna die, isn't she?"

"Not if we can help it!" If anything, Tory was unflinchingly loyal to her friends and her pack. "Now how do we track them down?"

"iFollow? It's worked before." Shelton started the app, but could only see four dots, rather than five. "Well, that's no good."

"Of course it doesn't work!"A fifth person joined the conversation. About a year ago, an African-American man with no official record of his existence had appeared in Charleston. If he was hoping to make something of himself, he'd failed miserably and lived on the streets. This was the first time he'd spoken to anyone, as far as the Virals knew. "Your friend wasn't abducted, either."

"So you saw it?" _She's still out there._ Hi was sure she was alright as long as the killer or stalker wasn't with her.

"Yep."

"Where did she go?" Shelton asked.

"Same place I came from. Korea, 1951." the man answered.

"Forget it," Ben was dismissive of the claim. "Guy's nuts. Or a druggie."

"I have _never_ done drugs in my life!"

"Well, we have a witness, and I guess it would fit with the evidence." Tory shrugged. "Once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

"I should have known getting you to watch _Sherlock _was a bad idea." Shelton muttered.

"If Ella really has gone back in time, one if us has to go and bring her back."

"I'll do it." Hi volunteered. "I want to help her. Besides, you're the leader so we need you here. Shelton's our tech guy, and Ben's the muscle. I'm the only one you can spare."

"OK. So, Mr-" Tory stopped, unsure of the man's name.

"Spearchucker Jones." He supplied.

"How do we do it?"


	7. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the hiatus. I was in Florida, but I have a pretty good idea of what's happening with this fic. Enjoy!**

* * *

"I have absolutely no idea. One minute I'm there, the next - bam! - I wind up here." The man shrugged apologetically.

"Can you tell us about what was happening at the time?" Tory asked, trying to find something of use.

"Well, there was shelling, and I was outside in the middle of it."

The still-flaring Virals turned to each other. Rather than discuss their observations out loud, they opted for telepathy.

_**So Jones was being shelled when he timeslipped, and Ella was being chased. Where does this leave us? **_Tory had no idea, for once. The events seemed unconnected, and both would be hard to replicate.

_**Maybe...**_Shelton began.

_**What?**_ Ben replied impatiently.

_**Ella was running for her life. She'd be under pressure to get away. Jones coulda got killed, so he would have been panicked. What if the trigger wasn't an event? What if it was a reaction to the event? I think that, somehow, these timeslips are caused by extreme stress.**_

_**So, how do I get extremely stressed?**_ Hi asked.

_**Don't ask me. **_

_**Very helpful, Shelton.**_

_**We'll figure that out later. **_Tory waved her hand dismissively. _**Remember, don't let anyone see you flaring. Keep your shades with you at all times.**_

Hi nodded._** They're on my face as we speak.**_

_**And, once you've found Ella, come back as soon as you can. We need you, man. **_Shelton added.

_**Try not to come back dead. **_Ben thought-muttered.

_**You pack. Find human.**_

_**Thanks, Coop. I'll get her back. **_Hi reached down to scratch the wolfdog's head. Then Coop started growling.

_**What is it, boy? **_Tory turned to look in the same direction the snarling mutt's gaze was fixed in. _**Oh, no.**_

_**Shit.**_ Ben was monosyllabic even in thoughts.

_**We're screwed.**_ Shelton froze up.

_**Now what? **_Hi stood up. All four Virals stared straight at the figure in front of them.

Their stalker was back.

He pulled a gun from his belt. Raised it. Aimed for the pack.

_**Get outta here! **_Tory ordered.

_**Hiram, we love you, run! **_Shelton pushed Hi in the direction of the bloodstain that marked the portal.

_**We can take this guy! **_Ben shoved his friend harder than Shelton could.

As the other Virals turned to fight, Hi vanished into the unknown.

* * *

It had taken Ella Francis about eight hours to realize she hated the war. She hated the blood. She hated the monochrome colors. She hated trying to walk in army boots a size too big. She hated the shelling. She hated Majors Burns and Houlihan. She hated the crap that the military tried valiantly to pass off as 'food'. She hated missing her friends. She hated the fact that the 1950s were devoid of WiFi.

Most of all, she hated the fact that, five minutes later, she'd realized she was the only one with a get-out-of-jail free card. If she could figure out how to get back to her own time, she'd be home free. No more wounded, no more olive drab, no more ill-fitting shoes, no more artillery, no more overzealous coworkers, no more puke-on-a-plate, no more isolation, and no more disconnection. No more pretending to be a teenage runaway who'd lied about her age to get in on the action. (That was the cover story she and Trapper had concocted. The two of them had begged and pleaded with the outfit's completely inept commanding officer to allow her to stay on and for her to receive some basic surgical training. She'd had no intention of sitting on the sidelines.)

It had taken her all of three seconds to realize she could never play that card.

So now there she was, two days later, wandering aimlessly around the site where she'd fallen, inexplicably, into this brave new world of chaos and catastrophe. Her head wound, as it turned out, wasn't that severe (it had just bled a lot, but miraculously nothing had broken) and so she had been able to step into the secondhand boots of Honorary Lieutenant Ella Francis (a post that hadn't previously existed). That was the life she would have to lead for the next two years.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered into the breeze, hoping her voice would carry back to the 21st century, "but this is something I have to do." She turned to head back to her tent. Except she hated her tent too, and her three tentmates seemed reluctant to accept her, perhaps on account of her age, perhaps on account of her lack of experience. _On second thoughts, _she mused_, maybe I'll just go hang out in the Swamp. At least Hawkeye and Trapper like me. Sort of. Maybe._

_"Ow!"_ She heard a familiar voice from behind her and spun around. "No soft landings for me, then." Hiram Stolowitski lay sprawled on the ground, flare extinguished..

"Hi?"

"Ella! Thank God!" He picked himself up and attempted to brush the dust of his clothes. "Now let's go home." He cleaned off the lenses of his sunglasses with his shirt.

Ella grimaced. "About that...I'm not so sure-"

"ATTENTION ALL PERSONNEL!" The announcement, accompanied by the sound of helicopter blades overhead, cut her off. As the announcer continued over the speakers rigged up around the compound, reporting incoming wounded, Ella grabbed her friend's shoulders.

"Hiram, this place is about to get very busy, very fast." Hi tensed at the urgency in her voice. "Get out of here. Run!"

"Everyone seems to be telling me that today. Where am I running to now?"

Ella considered this for a moment. "The mess tent. Nobody goes in there of their own free will." She pointed him in the right direction. As he started to run, and the compound began to fill up, he heard her yelling. "Welcome to Korea, Hiram Stolowitski!" Then, quieter, "Let's just hope you don't get used to it."

* * *

"You were gone for _twelve hours!" _Hi complained when she came back.

"Couldn't help it." She replied, irritated. "We've been up to our collective elbows in miscellaneous blood all day." She sighed and sat down across from Hi at the empty table. "This _is _a MASH unit, Hiram."

"Nice to know. Now come on!"

"Hi, listen. I'm...I've decided to stay in Korea."

"What? Why would you-"

"I know it sucks here, and I know I don't technically exist right now, but I can't leave! It'll be like survivor's guilt or something! Why should I get to go home when everyone else is stuck in this shithole? It wouldn't be right. I can't. I won't."

"Ella, I hate to break it to you, but there's a serial killer on the loose. Most of these people are going to die, and you're right in this psycho's path!"

Ella laughed. "Did you meant to do that?"

"Nope." Hi shook his head.

"Oh."

"Can we just get back to the topic at hand?"

"OK."

"Why would you want to stay here with a murderer running around?"

"Because Ben was right. Back home, this case is going nowhere. There's no fresh evidence, no new victims, nothing except a crazy stalker who might not even be involved! Here, it's new. This way, I'm in a perfect position to get info."

"You're telling me you're undercover." Hi was skeptical.

"I guess I could be." Ella replied hopefully. "I'll find out everything I can and maybe then, after the war, I can come home with my evidence and you can catch this guy!"

"That's a two year wait!"

"I know!" The young girl looked down at her shoes. "Just...go, Hi. Get outta here as soon as you can. This isn't your world."

"It isn't your world, either!" Hi protested.

"Maybe it has to be. Now go home."

"Not without you!"

"Your pack needs you, Hi," She glanced up and met his eyes as she said it, "and my unit needs me."

"They're your pack too. And since when was this your unit?"

"Since the universe decided to draft me after the fact. And it's not my pack, not really."

"What do you mean?"

"With you guys, I'm the odd one out. I appreciate you treating me as an equal, but I'm not. I'm not as fast or as strong or as smart as you, and all I do is hold you up. I'm human, and I can't be anything else. Here, I feel like I'm actually doing something useful. I can't learn to be a Viral, but I can learn to be this. It's just for two years, then I'll come home."

And what are we supposed to tell your parents? You have a family, Ella! You have a life!"

"What makes you think it's just me who's had to leave people behind?" She snapped. She paused to regain her composure. "Tell them the truth."

"'Sorry, Mr and Mrs Francis, but your daughter can't come home right now because she's accidentally traveled in time to the Korean War and is too stubborn to leave.' Yeah, that sounds believable."

"No! Tell them...tell them I volunteered for one of those medical charities that advertise on TV. The ones that help people in war zones. It's almost true. Say I faked my own disappearance because I knew they'd never let me go." She smiled weakly. "And you have to admit, 'Korean War vet' would look good on my résumé."

"Yeah, I guess." Hi stood up. " Ella, I..." _I think I love you._ "I'll miss you."

"Me too. Tell the others I said that." She hugged her friend briefly, before pulling away. "Now go catch your stalker."

_Well_, Hi thought as he left, _what with Ella here and Stalky McStalker there, I'm definitely stressed enough to get back home._

* * *

Five minutes later, he returned to find Ella still sat alone in the empty structure.

"Ella," he said, concerned, "we have a problem."

"What? What are you still doing here?"

"That's the problem." Hi took a deep breath before continuing. "I can't get back."


	8. Chapter 7

**Hey, Internetters! It's me again! Yay! This chapter may seem a little disjointed, and a little crazy. Hopefully I got it mostly IC. There'll be cliffhangers, confusion and a little bit of forshadowing (because it just wouldn't be Virals without a little bit of mortal danger, would it?)**

* * *

"You can't get back?"

"No." Hi didn't understand it. Maybe he just hadn't been stressed enough. Or maybe Shelton had made a mistake. He tried not to think too hard about that possibility. If Shelton was wrong, how the hell was he supposed to get home?

"Then come with me." Ella stood up, dragging Hi out the door. "Can you walk and talk at the same time?" He nodded. "Good. I'll tell you the rules."

"Rules? There's rules here?"

"If you want to blend in, yes. Firstly, no references to the Monster Mash. No-one will get it, it's a crap song anyway, and it'll just be embarrassing for both of us."

"It is _not _a crap song!" Hiram spluttered defensively.

"Yes it is. Secondly, no references to _The Walking Dead_ in relation to our wounded. Again, no-one will get it, and the zombie apocalypse is the last thing we need around here. Don't tempt fate. "

"Okay..."

"Thirdly, do not salute Frank Burns under any circumstances ever. His ego doesn't need any more inflating. If you perform this action with any sincerity whatsoever, you're on your own." Ella looked over at her friend, who was about two steps behind her.

"When have I ever saluted anyone and actually meant it?"

"Good point. Fouthly-"

"Is that a thing?" Hi asked.

"I suppose it must be." Ella shrugged. "Fourthly, if you run into an unconvincing Lebanese transvestite during your stay, which you will, don't report it. That's normal round here."

"Do I want to know why?"

"That's just Klinger. He wants out of the Army. It's not working. Fifthly, if our company clerk appears to know what you're saying before you know what you're saying, that's normal too. ESP. Don't let it freak you out."

"Okay..."

"And sixthly, if Hawkeye and Trapper offer you a drink, politely decline. It won't help you fit in, but it's for your own good. They make their own gin and it's not very nice if you're not used to it. People have been known to pass out after three glasses, apparently. Besides, if what Tory has told me is true, you should never be allowed to drink ever again after the last time. Got all that?"

"I think so." Hi tried to file it away somewhere he'd be able to find it.

"Alright then." Ella spread her arms out theatrically. "Welcome to the 4077th!"

* * *

"I don't believe this." Ben stared at his two remaining packmates. "He had a clear shot at all of us and he just left!" The stalker had only fired one shot (using a silencer to ensure no-one would hear the bullet), into the wall behind them, seconds after Hi timeslipped. Then he'd turned and calmly walked away as though nothing had happened. "It doesn't make any sense!"

The Virals hadn't wanted to risk attacking, since the cops didn't trust them (despite their impressive record) and the mysterious stranger could easily claim they'd started the fight. The last thing they needed was a criminal record.

"If he'd wanted to end us, he could have done it right then!" Shelton added. "What was all that about?"

"Maybe...maybe he didn't want to be caught." Tory thought about this for a moment, before continuing. "If he'd shot us, ballistics could be traced back to him. Even if he'd used a stolen gun and wiped it clean of prints, he wasn't wearing gloves. There'd be GSR all over his hands. And suppose one of us had lived? There were four of us there, not counting Coop. Then he'd go down for murder."

"He was sending a message." Ben said slowly.

"We're gonna die." Shelton whimpered.

"No we're not. As soon as Hi and Ella show up back in the modern world, we'll find this guy, find our murderer, and solve these cases."

"Yep." Tory agreed. "You don't mess with a Viral."

"Speaking of Hi and Ella, shouldn't they be back by now?" Shelton asked.

"Maybe the conditions aren't stressful enough yet?" Tory suggested, although she wasn't convinced that was the answer.

"Its a warzone. Of course the conditions are stressful enough." Ben replied.

"What if they're stuck there? What if the timeslips only work one way?

"If that's the case, Shelton..." their leader tailed off. She hadn't thought of that.

"What if the stalker's bullet damaged the portal?"

Tory hated to admit it, but she thought Shelton might be right about that.

* * *

"Here we are!" The two accidental time travelers had stopped outside an unspectacular-looking tent (all the tents in the 4077th looked unspectacular to Hi, as did everything else Ella had shown him on the guided tour she'd insisted on conducting. They were probably just as unspectacular to everyone else). "Tent Six, AKA the Swamp." She indicated the sign on the door. "Wait here a sec. Don't move." She pushed open the door and stepped inside.

"Trap, can I talk to you a sec?" She asked. "It's important." Her mentor pushed himself up from the bed he'd been sprawled on.

"What is it?"

"Just come with me." Ella beckoned him over to the door.

"If you two are together I have a right to know." Trapper and Ella looked at each other, then at Hawkeye, with identical expressions of mild distaste. 99% of the time, he was hilarious, a bit like an older (yet somehow more immature) version of Hiram Stolowitski. Then there was the other 1%.

"She's not my type." _She's not you._

"I'm really not." Ella added, grimacing. "Well said, Trap."

"Degenerates!" Frank muttered from the other side of the room.

"Speak for yourself." One of the first things Ella had learnt was that treating Frank with any respect was the one thing guaranteed to lose you everyone else's. Anyway, she was pretty sure that two Captains (one of whom was Chief Surgeon) and an Honorary Lieutenant collectively outranked one Major. And it wasn't like a nonexistent girl could be court-martialled. "Hawkeye's my friend. I could never steal a friend's guy. It's not polite." She said it like she was kidding, but she was being absolutely serious. Another thing she'd figured out was that the idea of Hawk and Trap as a couple was a running joke between them, and she was absolutely convinced they both wished it was more. She enjoyed watching the awkwardness this caused.

The idiot scowled, cleared his throat in the most obnoxious way possible and returned to his copy of _Stars and Stripes. _

As Trapper and his young protegee left, Hawkeye stared after them for a moment. He should have been going with them. _Don't even go there, Hawk, _he warned himself, _you can never have him._

* * *

"Hiram Stolowitski, I would like you to meet Trapper John McIntyre." Ella pointed from one to the other. "Hi, Trap. Trap, Hi."

"Hi."

"Hi back."

"Hi needs help." Ella looked at Trapper expectantly.

"And this concerns me how?"

"He decided to follow me into the past and now he can't get back." She explained.

"Wait,you told him?" Hi asked, stunned.

"Yeah. So?"

"Why would you do that? That could have got you into serious trouble, or sent off to the loony bin. Then we'd never have got you back!"

"I wouldn't have lasted five minutes if I hadn't!" She shot back.

"And how long do you have left before you're found out? And what if you somehow screw up the timeline and stop your ancestors from meeting or something? Like in _Back to the Future?"_

"Well, now you're just being ridi-" Ella stopped, mid-sentence. Hi was flaring. He slammed his shades into position, but it was too late.

He'd been spotted.

* * *

"So what do we do about the case?" Shelton asked, breaking the heavy silence that had fallen upon the bunker.

"Well, we can't give up." Ben said. "Hi and Ella would kill us if we did."

"So let's keep going. Before all this craziness happened, Ella told me to start researching the stalker, then see if the murders were connected to him, rather than the other way around. Let's start there."

"Later." Shelton stood up to leave. "I've had enough of this case for one day."

"You're worried about them, aren't you?" Ben asked once he'd gone.

"No. Hi and Ella can look out for themselves."

"You're lying."

Tory sighed. "OK, I'm worried. They're my best friends, and they're stranded in the middle of a war with a serial killer out for blood. What if they get killed?"

"They won't." Ben said it as though it were an unalterable fact of life. "They'll survive, and they'll find a way home." He slipped his arm around the redhead's shoulders.

"I hope you're right."

* * *

"Are you going to tell me what's going on now?" Trapper crouched in the undergrowth with Ella and an unreadable, flaring Hiram.

"Yep." Ella replied, at the same time Hi snapped "No."

"Do you have any idea how dangerous this is?" Hi glared at the girl through his dark glasses.

"It's perfectly safe. I know things about this guy that would ruin his whole life if other people found out." She lowered her voice at this last part. "No-one will ever know you're Viral, trust me. And you told me, didn't you?"

"That was different. I-" _I hoped it would impress you._ "It was a group vote."

"I know this is a big deal, but we can't get out of this now -I mean, you're the one who lit up without warning-, and we need all the help we can get."

"Fine." Hiram huffed, still annoyed. "But if I die because of this, I blame the two of you entirely. You can pay for my funeral." He removed the glasses, more for effect than anything else. "Last year, my friends and I -this was before we knew Ella- tried to save a wolfdog and somehow got infected with a new variant of canine parvovirus-"

"But that can't infect people."

"Well, this was a hybrid strain. Half canine parvo, half B-19. The virus hijacked our genetics, givng us abilities beyond what normal humans should be capable of."

"Like what?" Trapper leaned forwards, fascinated. Hi still wasn't convinced of the man's trustworthiness, but Ella was right - at this point, he didn't have an alternative but to continue. And Ella seemed confident enough that, if it was neccesary, she'd be able to blackmail him into complacency.

"Increased sensory capabilities, super strength and speed, and occasional telepathy, but that one's only when we're all together, and only Tory can do it, which isn't much fun."

"If you tell anyone about this," Ella warned, "I will out you over the PA system and not even think twice about it. So don't. If he goes down, we're going down too." She meant business.

"What does she mean, out you?"

"Nothing, dog boy. Go fetch."

"Are you-"

"I'm not gay."

"Bisexual." Ella chipped in helpfully. "Or just Hawkeyesexual, I'm not sure."

Trapper glared at her. "Can you keep _anything _secret?"

"My best friends have wolf DNA. Trust me, I can keep a secret. That's why I'm telling Hi all this. Insurance." Ella wasn't a manipulative person, but here she was, trapped 63 years in the past, and she had to find some way to survive it. It just so happened that this would involve mild extortion.

"Hawkeye?" Hi asked. "Like _The Avengers?"_

"Yes, because that makes perfect sense." Ella rolled her eyes. Her tendency towards sarcasm was what originally prompted Trapper and Hawkeye to take her on as their apprentice, but to Hi it was a little hurtful when she turned it on him.

"I'm sorry if I don't know all the same people you know."

"You'll meet them soon enough." By now, Hi's flare had burned out. "I mean, you'll have to, since you're staying here for a while."

"About that...I don't think the three of us can do this on our own." Trap fidgeted slightly, before continuing. "When it was just Ella, it was easy enough, but I can't look out for both of you at once."

"What are you saying?" Ella asked, confused.

"I think, maybe, we should tell Hawk. Not about the wolf-thing, just about the time travel stuff."

"Not more people!" Hi facepalmed.

"No. I really don't think we need to drag him into this."

"I disagree."

_"Hawkeye can never know." _Ella and Hi had switched from arguing against each other to arguing on the same side.

"Know about what?" A fourth person asked.

"We have the worst timing ever, don't we?" Hi groaned.

* * *

Ben had never had anything against Ella Francis. If he was being completely honest, she was the ideal Viral in many ways - it was only her genetics that made her an outsider.

Naturally, Ben didn't feel he could trust her, but when she'd confronted the four Virals about whatever it was they were hiding, the others had chosen to tell her. They had come to trust her, and it was felt that she'd be a valuable ally. Ben thought they'd been perfectly fine on their own.

He'd frozen her out, but now she was in danger and all he could think about was how accepting and enthusiastic she'd been, how she'd never backed away from a challenge, how she'd become pack without really being pack at all.

_I shouldn't have tried to get rid of her._

He was alone in his room. On impulse, he typed the missing girl's name into Google. He didn't find anything of interest - just articles about her disappearances (both for the Zodiac case and the current mystery) and bits and pieces on the Bolton Prep website.

He narrowed his search parameters. _Ella Francis Korean War MASH 4077. _Clicked on the first link that appeared. It was a site set up in memory of the murder victims and the few who survived. He scrolled through old black and white photos taken by someone at the camp long ago, trying to find the girl's name. _There._ One of the pictures caught his attention. It was unremarkable in itself, showing four people laughing over something lost to history, but not to Ben. The first two figures (listed in the caption underneath as Captains B.F. Pierce and J.F.X McIntyre) meant little, but the last two were far more significant.

Ella and Hi.

He scanned through the rest of the photographs, searching for the missing Virals. They cropped up rather a lot. He selected four and emailed them to Tory and Shelton, before closing his eyes and resting his head in his hands.

Because among these pictures had been the lifespans of all personnel, and among that he'd seen something he wished he could forget.

He'd seen the date Hi died.

* * *

It fell to Trapper John to inform Hawkeye of how Ella had come to reside in the Double Natural. For a few seconds afterwards, he was unreadable; then he grinned.

"_Ah. I _see what you're doing here, Trap, but I'm _not _that gullible." _So why are you messing with me and not Frank?_

"What am I doing here, then?" Hawk's response had confused Trapper (after all, the two of them were usually on exactly the same page). Not so much Ella and Hiram.

"He's not making this up."

"My life is over, isn't it?" Hi dropped his head backwards.

"It's crazy, but it's the truth."

"Well, the truth sounds like the follow-up to _Connecticut Yankee._" Hawkeye shrugged.

"I wouldn't lie to you, Hawk." _Not if I didn't have to._

He stared in shock. "So you two" he indicated Hi and Ella, "are really-"

Hi gave up the pretense of normalcy. _I'm already screwed. _"Bona fide time travelers."

"So will you help us?" asked Ella.

"What do I have to do?"


	9. Chapter 8

**Hey! Apologies in advance for the fact that the next chapter probably won't be up until the end of the month, because of school and stuff. Sorry. And I also have to point out an inaccuracy - in the first AN, I said one of the characters didn't appear during the Trapper Years in canon, but this was a mistake. Just clearing that up. And sorry again.**

**In this chapter, expect a confession, a screwup, a suspect, a murder, two investigations, and...Let it Go! Seriously. It's only for a second, though. Don't panic.**

**So enjoy!**

* * *

"Any luck with the Francis Method?" Shelton asked after two hours of the Virals poring over hacked security feeds from the past week and trying to figure out who their stalker was.

"No." Tory sighed.

Ben shook his head. "We're going about this the wrong way."

Their leader slammed her hand down on the table. "No, we're not! We're doing just fine!"

"We'll never catch him this way."

"Listen! This was _Ella's plan_, and-"

"And we can't help her or anyone else by doing this wrong." Ben finished. "Allow me to present the Blue Method."

Shelton looked up. "Which is?"

"Focus on the murderer. If the stalker is connected he'll up the ante, and we can ambush him."

"This is how Ella wanted us to do it." Tory protested.

"Tory, Lt Ella Francis of the 4077th MASH isn't _here_. She won't be offended if you use Ben's idea." Shelton replied.

"I just feel like it's my fault for letting her get involved."

"So solve the case, Tory," Ben squeezed her hand, "and maybe we can uninvolve her, and Hi too."

* * *

It had been three days since Hi's unexpected visit, and the dust had already begun to settle. Hawkeye and Trapper had agreed to let Hi bunk in the Swamp (a decision partly influence by Frank's disapproval), and the three of them and Ella had formed an alliance with the aim of figuring out a way to return him to his own time. They all thought Ella was crazy for opting to stay rather than getting the hell out at the next available opportunity, but she refused to let them talk her out of it. Radar O'Reilly went around taking photos for some kind of scrapbook. Someone (whose identity was never determined, although it was noticed that the newcomers were treated by the Swampmen with some form of respect afterwards) removed everything from Margaret Houlihan's tent and reassembled it outside. Lt. Col. Flagg of the CIA (or CIC, possibly even CID - he told everyone a different story) came to inspect the camp and its personnel.

Ella continued prying into Trapper's relationship with Hawkeye. There was something going on with them, she was sure of it.

It was late evening when she found out. Evening in South Carolina was Ella's favorite time of day - soothing, tranquil and a break from the heat. Evening in South Korea, in contrast, was just cold and depressing. Ella had stolen the blanket from Frank's cot (he wouldn't miss it; he'd disappeared - supposedly in a professional capacity- into Margaret's tent ages ago) and wrapped herself up in it as she curled into the chair in the corner of the Swamp and tried not to freeze to death. Hi was huddled in the spare bunk, trying to get his phone to actually work as a phone. It wouldn't work, Ella knew. She'd already tried with her own. She could still use the camera function and most of the apps, but she couldn't get a signal of any kind- unsurprising, since there was no signal to get. Hawkeye was passed out on his own bed, and Trapper was sat on the end of it.

"That's so creepy."

Trap turned to look at her. "What is?"

"Watching him sleep. It's kinda disturbing."

"I wasn't watching him sleep!" Trapper protested.

Ella smirked. "Then what were you doing?"

"Medical examination. Very important." He coughed, embarrassed.

Ella just laughed. "Whatever you say."

"I wasn't watching him sleep!" He repeated pointlessly. "Will you stop doing that?"

"Doing what?"

"Bringing this up."

"Hey, I'm not the one staring." Ella shrugged. Hi, wisely, chose to stay out of the conversation. "I just want to know what the deal is with you guys."

"There's no 'deal'. There's nothing between us." He looked down. "But..there was once. Or at least I think there was."

"What? Tell me!"

"No."

She tried again. "Please? I won't tell a soul."

"Neither." Hi muttered, still engrossed in his phone.

"So tell me!"

"OK." Trapper breathed in deeply, then exhaled. "But this doesn't leave the tent." Ella nodded impatiently. "We met through a college football game. Him versus me. We hit it off, and he ended up staying a week longer than everyone else, but I didn't think it was anything more than friendship at first. We lost touch after a while, but I couldn't stop thinking about him and I didn't know why. Then I met Louise and we got engaged, but it didn't feel right."

"Then what happened?"

"Hawk and I hadn't spoken in four years, but I decided I wanted him at the wedding. I didn't expect him to come, but three days before the event he showed up on my doorstep and that's when everything went south. We went out drinking and the next thing I knew I was waking up next to him in a motel room with no memory of the night before." He broke off.

"And..."

"There is no 'and'. I was supposed to be getting married two days later. We both agreed not to speak of it again; I doubt he even remembers it."

"You should ask him."

"And say what? 'Hey, you know how you slept with your male best friend and roommate all those years ago? Well, he still has dreams about it!'"

Ella was silent for a moment. "Is this anything to do with the staring? Because explaining your reasoning hasn't made it any less creepy."

"I know."

"Well, I'm glad we've got that sorted out."

"It's just...I'm still in love with him."

"I know."

"I know."

"Well, now I know." Hi threw his phone down in exasperation and joined in uninvited.

_"Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know,"_ Ella sang, _"Well, now they know..."_

"So I can't reference the Monster Mash but you can invoke 'Let it Go'?" Hi asked.

"Pretty much."

"Will you two just drop it?"

"Drop what?" Hawkeye mumbled drowsily.

"Nothing!" Trapper panicked.

"Nothing whatsoever." Hi added.

"We were absolutely not discussing Trap's _very _obvious crush on -" Trapper glared over at Ella. "-Margaret." she finished lamely.

"Well, I should probably get going..." The fourth member of their company sounded dejected.

"Going where?" Trap asked, but it was too late. He was already out the door.

"Awkward..."

"Shut up, Hi." Trapper looked from Hi to Ella. " Did you really have to say that?"

"Well, you're the one who wanted to stay in the closet, not me." Ella started inspecting her nails.

"True, but now he thinks I'm in love with Hot Lips Houlihan!"

* * *

"You're making a spreadsheet." Ben looked over Shelton's skinny shoulder at the screen of his laptop..

"Why?" Tory leaned over the other shoulder.

"To make it clearer who we've cross-referenced with the murders." The young African-American-Japanese replied matter-of-factly. "I've listed them alphabetically and by rank, in ascending order, and included the dates on which they were assigned and reassigned, or discharged, as the case may be. Then there's another box for whether or not they were murdered or otherwise made dead, and one for whether or not it was possible for any of them to have been the murderer."

Tory and Ben looked at each other. "Then why is Hiram on your list?" Tory was skeptical of the validity of her friend's data-analysis strategy, but decided not to say anything.

"It's not just Hi. Ella's on there too!"

"But why?"

"They were assigned to the 4077th, according to Ben's memorial site thingy. It follows logically to include them."

"You're an idiot." Ben slapped the back of Shelton's head, dislodging his glasses.

"Hey, I included a whole bunch of other people who couldn't possibly have done it!"

"So what have you come up with?" Tory asked.

"Nothing." Shelton sighed. "Same as before. If they weren't killed, the timings weren't right for them to have done the killing. No-one assigned to the 4077th MASH could have been the Korean Ripper, as Hi called him."

"You know what that means?" Tory said, looking around at the two members of her pack not currently traveling in time.

"It means the killer wasn't assigned to the 4077th." Ben answered.

"We have a lead!" Shelton yelped. The three of them hugged, feeling positive for the first time in a week."We are _back!_"

"We can do this thing!" Tory yelled.

"Ben, Tory?" Shelton piped up after they'd stood like that a while.

"What?"

"You're crushing me."

* * *

The killer watched and waited in the night for someone to emerge, like a lion hunting helpless zebras. Eventually he spied his prey.

The man was around 28 years old and pretty much forgettable. He was not an officer, but the killer didn't pay attention to rank. He didnn't need to. He didn't care. He knows this man is an integral part of something, something he must prevent at all costs.

The suspect walked right past him. _Perfect. _Quick as a flash, the killer wass upon him, pressing the handkerchief to his face. The suspect struggled briefly, before passing out from the chloroform. The killer looked around, before picking up the unconscious victim and carrying him to the waiting Jeep. It wasn't his to use, he had no authorization to borrow it, but he took it anyway. The man was placed into a canvas bag and driven away.

Once they were far away from the camp, he removed the victim from the bag. He picked his gun, by now fitted with the silencer (he is already wearing gloves), and took aim.

The man is shot three times.

Once in the stomach.

Once in the heart.

Once in the head.

He replaced the corpse and drove it back. Posed it where it would be noticed. Discarded the gloves. Hid the silencer and bag in the VIP tent. Positioned his gun on the table the way it was earlier.

He felt no remorse for the action.

He had an agenda.

* * *

It was Corporal Klinger who found the body - Private Danny Baker - the next morning. The sight - a man with enough hair to make a sort of mock-bearskin rug with, wearing a nightie and curlers and staring at a dead body in the middle of the compound - would probably have been hilarious if it had been part of some TV show, but it wasn't. It was terrifyingly, disturbingly real. And Hi and Ella were right in the middle of it.

"So what's your plan?" Hi hissed as the two joined the crowd around the body.

She tensed. "What makes you think I have a plan?" she replied.

"You said you were going to investigate. How?"

"That was before I actually saw the body." She paused. "I have no idea what to do without Tory and co. I can't see us managing to pull off a two-man investigation."

"Lucky there's four of us, then."

* * *

"Hey!" Ben called. "I found something!" Tory and Shelton ran over.

"What?"

"This guy -" Ben indicated the man on his laptop screen, "-Colonel Flagg, was present for all the murders, and his death was only a few days after the last murder."

"You think it's him?" Shelton asked.

"It has to be."

Tory returned to her own computer. "I know this is gonna sound crazy, but maybe he's our stalker? Maybe he didn't die, just timeslipped." There was a moment's silence. "No good." She said finally. "He's long dead. Died 1982. There's an autopsy report and everything."

Shelton removed his glasses, polished them, and replaced them on his face. "Come to think of it, we have no evidence linking Flagg to the murders. And the victims were all on his side. No motive there."

"Then we're back to square one." Ben said gravely.

* * *

The MPs present, for some reason, objected to Hawkeye, Trapper, Hi and Ella getting an up-close look at the body.

"And where do you think you're going?" The question was aimed at all four of them, but it was Trapper who responded.

"We're examining the crime scene."

"And what gives you the authority?

"I do." Hawk took a step closer to the scene.

"And you are?"

"Can you people say anything besides rhetorical questions?" Ella jabbed Hi in the ribs. "Ow!" The two were ignored.

"Hawkeye Pierce, Chief Surgeon. This guy here is Trapper, my royal consort," _I wish "_And these are two of our loyal subjects, Hi and Yankee." 'Yankee' seemed to have become Hawk's official nickname for Ella. She wore it with pride.

"And it's our camp." Trap was still blushing slightly. Although to the untrained observer things between the two of them appeared normal, the conversation of the previous night had left its mark. Things were definitely off.

"Which makes it our crime scene." finished Ella.

"Our CO gave us permission to investigate." Hi's comment wasn't strictly true, but Lt. Col. Henry Blake was an idiot. It would be easy enough to convince him to give the idea a shot. After all, he'd agreed to let Ella into OR and observe. She was allowed to do very basic tasks only, but she was a fast learner. "After we've had a look around, you can do whatever it is you have to do."

After half an hour of arguing, they had an opportunity to run their own investigation. Hawkeye was team leader, Trapper his second-in-command, and Hi and Ella were the only ones with any sort of CSI experience.

Operation Bloodhound was a-go.

* * *

**So is Flagg the killer, or is it just a red herring? And who's the stalker? And what happens next with Hawk and Trap? Answers to come!**

**And, in case you're wondering, Radar's photos are the same ones Ben found earlier on.**


	10. Chapter 9

**Hey! New chapter!** **It's a little bit filler-y, but something important DOES happen with one of the cases. That said, it's mainly Hi and Ella. OK, mainly Ella. Next chapter will be WAY more exciting, tho' so stay tuned!**

* * *

"Ella?" The girl looked up.

"Hi, Hi." She patted the space next to her on the bed.

"What're you thinking about?"

"Evidence. Or, more precisely, the lack of it." Ella sighed in frustration. "We need more time."

"Have you all just given up on getting me home?" Although that had been the original aim of the unholy alliance, returning Hi to his own time had taken a back seat to the murder case.

"No! It's just the camp psychopath's probably a bigger issue right now."

"Well, I have a plan that will eliminate our lesser concern!" Hi glanced around the tent. "What happened to PierceIntyre?"

"It's Hawpper."

"Sure?"

"If I'm wrong, you get 10 bucks."

"Done." The two shook on it, before Hi continued. "So where are they?"

"Trapper's trying to persuade Henry to let us have more time-"

"If Hawk's team leader, shouldn't he be doing that?"

"Apparently he had something better to be doing."

"Like what?"

"I can't remember her name, but she looked alarmingly like a female version of Trap." Ella shrugged. "Makes ya think."

"I'd really rather not, I don't need that visual." Hi shuddered slightly. "I live with those two."

"Gay is OK, Hiram. Deal with it."

"You know that's not what I meant." He paused. "What were we talking about?"

"You had a plan to get back stateside."

"Oh, yeah. I was thinking, we build a flux capacitor, fit it to a jeep no-one's using, get it up to 88 miles per hour, and just drive home." Hi tried to ignore the fact that Ella had said 'stateside' rather than 'home'. "Problem solved."

"Hiram?"

"Yeah?"

"_Back to the Future_ isn't _real._ And I'm not going with you."

"I never asked."

"You implied." Ella smiled sadly. "I'll miss you, y'know? Being Yankee Francis is pretty fun, but you and my phone are the only things I have left of Ella..." She fixed her gaze on her boots. "And you're one of the best friends I've ever had."

"I'll miss you, too." On impulse, the dark-haired girl threw her arms around her friend.

"Abyssinia, Hi."

"I'm not leaving just yet, Ells." He reluctantly broke free from the embrace.

"I know." She had no idea why it had just hit her that he would be leaving as soon as possible, or why it hurt her to think about it. And she had no idea how long she spent thinking about the issue after he left, presumably to build a flux capacitor out of surplus tongue depressors and whatever else he could find in the supply tent (provided it wasn't occupied by Hawkeye and Whatever-her-name-was).

She was almost relieved when she heard the choppers and the announcement. At least thirty-seven hours of meatball surgery would provide a distraction.

Except when she tried to forget about it in preparation, she couldn't.

The same thought just kept creeping back into her mind. She tried to push it out, but it was no use.

She couldn't possibly be _in love _withHiram Stolowitski, of all people.

Could she?

* * *

The man in the dark clothes never approached the three teens after he sent them his warning, but he waited for the right time to do so eagerly. He didn't understand how the girl with the glossy dark braid, and then the fat boy, had disappeared before his eyes, but they were no longer his concern.

The remainders, however, were. The redhead was determined and intelligent. With her on the loose he wasn't safe, and neither was the killer's identity. _Once she finds one, she'll find the other..._

The tall, tanned young man was as strong physically as his girlfriend was mentally, and despite the man's superior abilities he didn't feel he could win in a fair fight. He would have to fight dirty, get them when they wouldn't notice him.

The skinny black kid was less of a threat; weak, shortsighted, easy to take down. The problem was, the other two would, he knew, defend him to the last. Perhaps he could be used as bait.

There was something about them that was different. The way they acted around each other, it was almost as though they were one being. When he'd fired that stolen gun (now residing at the bottom of the lake) they hadn't said a word, yet looked to be in the middle of a conversation. His predecessor had never been up against an opponent quite like them. The closest he'd come was those two Captains, blessed or cursed with that same intuitive awareness of the other, but on a far weaker level, and they'd been taken separately. These three _children_ would be a far greater challenge. He'd never even heard of anything like it.

He would be risking his life if he tried to take theirs.

That was the thrill of the chase.

"He's right over there." Shelton hissed, indicating their stalker across the street.

"This is creepy." Tory fixed her emerald eyes on the black-clad figure, but in spite of her words she took a step closer.

"So what do we do about it?" Ben took a step as well.

"Timeslip and go hang out in the nice safe war with Hi and Ella?"

Tory rolled her eyes at Shelton. "We figure out who the hell he is once and for all."

"Eh?" Her companions wore identical expressions of confusion.

"One of us is gonna have to get a photo of this guy's face." She stopped. "This is why we need Hi. I guess one of us is gonna have to do his job."

Shelton swallowed. "You be Hi, Ben can be the camera guy, I'll keep a lookout."

* * *

Ella scrubbed at her arms a little too vigorously, the soap stinging her skin and her nails scraping her flesh. _Don't think about Hi. Focus. As soon as you step through that curtain you focus. And _not_ on Hi._

"Hey," Trap, noticing her frustration, asked, "You okay?"

"Yep. Why wouldn't I be?" She glared down as she rinsed the suds off. _As if anyone would believe that._

"D'ya wanna talk?"

"Nope."

"Sure?"

"Absolutely."

"This about Hi?"

Ella turned, shocked. "How d'you know?" The people around her had noticed her speech was beginning to change, echoing the slightly coarser rhythms of her fellow denizens, losing a few of her more refined constructions. She had no idea it was happening, but that made her the only one in camp.

"It's obvious." He shrugged.

"Well, not to me." She finished up and dried off her dripping hands, dumping the towel in the sink. She shook off the remaining water particles and pushed through the curtain into the operating room.

"Ella Stolowitski," Trapper mused as he followed her in. "Has a nice ring to it."

She smiled sweetly. "Whatever you say, Trapper _Pierce_."

* * *

"Excuse me," Tory asked the man in front of her, trying to appear innocent. "I'm new to the area, and I was wondering, could you possibly give me directions to the museum?" _Well, that was a shitty distraction, _she thought to herself. _Where's Hiram when you need him? _

The stalker was unreadable, but Tory knew he recognized her. What she was counting on was that he wouldn't realize she recognized him. "Buy a damn map."

"That's not very nice of you." She replied self-righteously, doing her best to provoke him. He scowled back.

"You didn't ask for nice."

"I expected it." He began to walk away. She ran after him. Unnoticed, Ben crouched a few feet in front behind the corner of a building. "Hey, wait up! I asked you for directions!" She yelled, cutting in front of him and snatching the dark glasses off his face. In the brief moment his face was partially exposed, Ben snapped a picture with his phone. The man snatched his glasses back, swore, and strode away, but it was too late.

They'd seen him. They had photographic evidence.

And they were going to bring him down no matter what.

* * *

Hours (days?) later, Hi passed by the Swamp to find Ella crouched in front of the door,occasionally peeking through the window. He moved to step past her.

"No, no, no!" she hissed, throwing out an arm to stop him.

"What?" He whispered back.

"Listen!" Hi dropped down, mimicking his friend's posture.

On the other side of the door, something was happening, namely a debunking.

"_She got it wrong, OK?"_

"What did I miss?" Hi asked, listening intently.

"Well, Hawk asked Trap why he hadn't asked out Hot Lips yet, and Trap tried to explain I'd made that bit up, and Hawk didn't believe him. Or maybe he did and is just torturing him, I dunno. Now_ shhh_."

"Why?"

"Because I think Trapper's finally gonna 'fess up, and if those two spend any more time staring at each other in OR then someone will bleed to death."

"Wouldn't this make the problem _worse?_" Hi raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"Shhh!"

"Why are you bothering being quiet. The walls are _transparent_? _They can see you anyway_."

"Not if I stand behind the door, they can't. Now shut up, I missed a whole bunch of stuff just then!"

"_So who do you like, then?"_

"_..."_

"Screw this. I have to sleep in there." Ignoring Ella's protests, Hiram pushed open the flimsy wooden door and stepped into the sorry excuse for a tent.

If the Korean Ripper didn't get in there first, Yankee Francis was going to kill him.


	11. Chapter 10

**Hey! New chapter, with a problem in Charleston, a disappearance in the 4077th, and Frank being a moron. Enjoy!**

* * *

In response to yet another murder (Lt. Leslie Dish), a curfew had been imposed and only two tents (Margaret Houlihan's, much to her disdain, and the Swamp) were to be occupied by personnel (the exception being that Col. Flagg of the CI-whatsit would sleep alone in the VIP tent, for obvious reasons). 'Safety in numbers' was Henry's reckoning. This impressed no-one. Any plan created by Col. Blake was doomed to failure from the outset.

Frank, of course, objected to the idea of 'non-coms' like Radar and Klinger sleeping in an officer's tent, but he'd also objected to Hi (a civilian faking being a Private) sleeping there, and then, as always, he'd been shouted down, just like now.

Ella objected to sleeping in with the nurses, especially Margaret. Only Bayliss and Kelleye seemed in any way willing to accept her, and somehow she just knew she'd end up in Dish's bunk trying not to feel too creeped out..

Hot Lips herself objected to having to share her private tent, but no sooner had this been declared than Hawk made a comment about what Frank was always doing in there, and after that it was impossible to take her complaints seriously.

Everyone objected to being in the same _camp_, let alone the same _tent_, as Frank (very few people even wanted to be in the same country, and only Margaret wanted to be in the same war).

Life in the Double Natural might just have gotten even worse than it already was - or at least more awkward.

* * *

"It should be almost done." Shelton remarked, launching the facial recognition program the Virals had used in the Gamemaster case on the LIRI terminal. They'd loaded their photo into the system three days ago. "Hopefully we'll have a name soon."

The three of them waited.

"What'll we do about Hi and Ella?" he asked a few minutes later.

"I don't know." Tory replied sadly. "Maybe we'll never get them back."

"What'll happen to them after the war?"

"Maybe someone will care enough to take them in? Maybe they found someone they could confide in who'll look after them till they turn eighteen."

"For Hi, there is no after the war." Ben's voice was solemn.

"What do you mean?" The redhead was concerned.

"You guys remember those photos I sent you?" Nods. "Well, on the site I found them on it told you the birth and death dates of everyone stationed at the 4077th. Hiram's supposed to die on the-" He tried to recall the date. "Oh, God."

"That doesn't sound good..." Shelton gulped.

"Today is the sixty-third anniversary of the death of Pvt. H. M. Stolowitski," Tory and Shelton stared in shock, knowing what was coming next, "except, we knew him as Hi."

* * *

The killer watched the brown-haired kid patrol the compound.

It wasn't yet dark, but no-one would see him. Everyone, with the exception of the slightly pathetic clerk with the glasses and apparently the boy as well, was preoccupied with casualties.

This was the perfect time to strike.

This one was the most suspicious of the lot. The jewel in his metaphorical crown. He'd be decorated, acclaimed, heralded as the saviour of his fine country. Declared the victor of this police action (he didn't understand why they called it a war).

But not yet. He must take this suspect down.

Chlorophorm first. The boy cried out in alarm but was subdued and unconscious in seconds.

Then he was bagged and driven away.

The killer had, however, overlooked one thing.

The young lieutenant, who had been such good friends with the private lying motionless in the back of the Jeep (how could he notice when such a friendship went against Army regulations? It couldn't exist, so in his world it didn't), would soon notice he was gone.

She would notice, and she would worry.

The worry would turn to resolve as hard as diamond and strong as steel.

He couldn't comprehend compassion, or love in any form, or loyalty to any one person, therefore he could not possibly know what was coming.

He'd killed many times, but he'd never before been challenged.

* * *

Two days. Two days, with no rest, minimal food, and maximum carnage presented to her, but mainly her coworkers. Two whole days! Inhuman! And Ella had two more years of that shit yet to come.

"Worst vacation ever." she sighed when it was over, discarding the mask and resting her head in her hands.

"I say we never book through Truman again." Hawk's remark wasn't that funny, but Trapper still laughed.

"Let's just go get food."

"Food? Here? What did I miss?"

"Fair point. Drink?"

"Better."

"I'll just go find Hi," Ella broke away from their small group as they walked across camp. "We can be under 21 together."

After changing out of the white clothes back into her fatigues (of course she wasn't going to change in the scrub room - even though she was wearing most of her clothes underneath anyway, she'd been raised to be a lady), she began her search, but strangely, he was nowhere to be seen. Usually, since Hiram didn't really know which buildings were which - one olive-drab tent looks much like another - he'd stick to the mess tent or the Swamp. He wasn't in the former, getting food poisoning with most of the rest of the camp, or the latter drinking (Hawk and Trap) or reading the Bible in an attempt to appear moral and good (Frank, about to find out that several pages were missing and someone had altered a few of the words).

_Maybe Henry asked to see him about something..._

Hi wasn't in the office, or outside it looking at the complicated phone system and ridiculing how primitive it was, as she'd found him doing before.

She tried post-op (although why he'd be there she had no idea) and the supply tent (_if he's there, _thought Ella, _he'd better just be getting supplies), _but to no avail. It was as though he'd dropped off the face of the earth.

For a moment, Ella entertained the idea of him being able to timeslip and get home, but immediately realized it couldn't be so; the conditions were all wrong.

So where the hell was he?

She returned to the Swamp with no luck. "You seen Hi?"

"Nope."

"Not here." Her mentors returned to their martinis.

"Is that one of the Koreans?"

"No, Frank."

"I don't have to take that." _Take what?_

"Hiram Stolowitski. Private." Trapper supplied.

"Showed up about a week ago. Sleeps in here."

"Can it, Pierce."

This conversation would go nowhere, Ella realized, so she left.

She hadn't gone that far when she felt a hand grab her elbow. She twisted her arm out of the grip and turned. "Get off me, Ferret Face. I carry a rape whistle."

"She's been PierceIntyred." Frank muttered under his breath.

Ella heard him. " Dammit, I owe Hi $10!"

"What?"

"Never mind. Whaddaya want?"

"I know what you're up to."

"And what would that be?"

"You're a fraud. A civilian impersonating an officer. You could be shot for this."

"You're a civilian impersonating an officer. The technical term is 'draftee'." _Which I'm not, but he doesn't have to know that._

His piggy eyes narrowed in suspicion. "I bet you're not even an American. You're one of _them._"

"One of who?"

"The Commies."

Ella laughed. "Really? You're almost as bad as-" she stopped as the reality of what she was saying dawned on her. "Major, if you've seen Hi I'd appreciate it if you'd tell me."

"And why should I? I outrank you, _Comrade _Francis."

"Because Hi's stronger than he looks and you share a tent with two guys who happen to be in good terms with me and who once sewed you to your blanket."

"I haven't a clue where he is, I swear!" For all his GI bravado, Frank was a coward at heart (or at least the cavity where a heart should be).

"How about Flagg?"

"And what's it to you?"

"D'ya want me to sic my Communist friends on you?"

"Left an hour and a half ago. I saw him driving off whilst I was doing triage." _Frank did triage? So _that's _why that French chest case got in after the American with the cat scratch. _

"Which direction?"

"That way." He pointed east, still slightly panicked. Ella was pretty sure she could be court-martialled and quite probably shot for threatening a superior officer, too, but Frank seemed to have forgotten and she wasn't about to remind him.

"Thanks!"

"Nerts to you!' he sniped. _Nerts?_

As she walked away, Ella knew she had three options.

She could go to her CO and report the disappearance, but her CO happened to be one of the biggest disasters in the army, and there was no guarantee he'd believe her anyway.

She could see whether Hawkeye and Trapper would help her (they probably would believe her, and would definitely be willing), but she'd already asked too much of them and it wouldn't be right to do so this time.

That left only one option - go after the killer herself.

* * *

"And we have a winner!" The program had turned up a result, shaking the three Virals who weren't currently in 1950s South Korea partially out of their gloom.

"The stalker's name is Jefferson Flagg." Tory read from the computer screen. "Now why's he following us?"

"Wasn't our initial suspect called Flagg?" asked Ben.

"Yep. We ruled him out for not having motive." Shelton replied.

"This must be his son or something." Tory added. "If Col. Flagg was the Ripper, that gives our stalker motive for trying to off us."

"But why would the Colonel want to kill his own people?" No-one had an answer for that.

* * *

Rope and a map. These were the only useful things Ella could find. She was woefully underequipped and had no idea where to look.

That was where the map came in. She looked east and searched for a likely location.

Somewhere far from any military installation or local settlement.

Somewhere hard to access: maybe near a minefield or something. (Flagg would know how to avoid mines, she was sure of it.)

Somewhere not too far from the 4077th, either. He had to be able to get the bodies in and out of camp quickly.

Ella circled the perfect location and slid into the driver's seat of a Jeep she really didn't have the time to sign off on.

She'd only taken one lesson in driving back in Charleston, but she hoped it would be enough to ensure she didn't crash.

* * *

After returning to the bunker and updating Shelton's pointless spreadsheet, the Virals had to figure out where to go from there.

"What do we do?" Ben was more a doer than a thinker.

"Hide?" Shelton suggested.

"Shelton, this D-bag tried to kill us! He's the reason Ella got trapped in the Korean War and can't get back! He's part of the reason Hi's dead! We _cannot _just hide!" Tory folded her arms decisively.

"If we timeslip, maybe we can bring Hi and Ella back before the killer gets Hi."

"Or, alternatively, find we're too late to save him, get stuck there for the rest of our lives, have shells dropped on us, and probably end up dead or arrested for entering a warzone without authorization."

"What she said. Got any ideas, Tor?"

"We lure him out, then we strike!" The notion was emphasized by the girl slamming her fist into her palm.

"Or I could save you the trouble and come straight to you."

Jefferson Flagg had found them in the one place they thought they were safe.

* * *

Hi stirred and began to open his eyes, only to find himself far from the 4077th MASH. This small wooden shack was entirely unfamiliar to him. He looked down, wondering how he came to be waking up in a chair, and saw his hands were tied to the arms, and his ankles also bound.

His blood ran cold as he realized he wasn't alone. Blocking the way to the closed door in front of him was the random intelligence agent he'd seen around the camp.

There was a gun in the man's hand, pointed straight at him. His voice was low, even, and calculating.

"Tell me what you know."

* * *

"Leave us alone." Tory faced the man who'd turned their lives into a living nightmare and tried not to show any fear. "What did we ever do to you?"

"Nothing to me," he replied, "but you know too much."

"About what?" Shelton couldn't bring himself to look up.

"My father was Colonel Sam Flagg, and those 'murders', as you call them, were a highly important military operation to remove Communist influences."

"What is he talking about?" Ben murmered.

"This was the Cold War." Tory hissed back.

"Of course, the program never officially existed," Flagg the younger continued, "so of course it would be considered murder. That is, should it ever come to light."

The Virals looked at each other. _What the hell do we do now?_


	12. Chapter 11

**New chapter! This time, both Charleston Division and Korean Division (as I like to call them) have a fight on their hands...but someone might not make it out.**

* * *

_At times like these, _Tory thought, _telepathy is a real asset._

Too bad that was one skill they couldn't use. With Hi stranded in war-torn Korea more than sixty years in the past (at best) or dead (at worst), the Virals were a man down. Anything less than a full compliment meant Viral mind-hacking was well and truly out of the question.

"If you could have just left it alone," Flagg Jr said grimly, "it might never have not come to this. "

"And 'this' would mean?" Miss Brennan, however, was not someone who'd back down from a fight, no matter how unlikely it was that she would be victorious.

"'This'," the intruder sneered, "means I'm taking over the family business."

* * *

Ella paused to loop the stolen rope over her shoulder and consult her stolen map, before climbing out of the equally stolen jeep, bending down, picking up a smallish rock, and throwing it as far forward as she could. The ground exploded as it came down.

"Shit." she whispered. She knew there was a minefield, of course. Problem was, on the other side of the minefield was a derelict shack, and the area was the one she'd marked out as being the most likely to conceal a homicidal maniac and his innocent victim, and she had no idea how far in any direction the minefield stretched, or where was safe to tread. Her map missed that crucial point out.

There was a second Jeep, abandoned nearby, and that gave her an idea. If the driver was Flagg, maybe...

She squinted at the dusty soil, wishing she had Hi's flare vision (or, better yet, Hiram Stolowitski in person).

_There._ Footprints, barely visible.

She collected a few more pebbles and shoved them into her pocket, just in case she needed to test for mines, before beginning to pick her was through, stepping only in the faint bootprints.

* * *

"What do we do?" hissed Shelton.

Ben shrugged. Tory closed her eyes and tried to focus.

**SNAP**

When she opened them again, they shone with golden light.

She'd been able to have momentary mental contact with humans once before, so there was a chance this could work, but it hadn't been in this kind of situation, and she'd passed out from exhaustion. Nevertheless, she had to try to reach her friends.

She closed her eyes again and visualised the ropes connecting her to the other Virals. She couldn't see Hi, but Shelton, Ben and Cooper were right there.

_**VIRALS!**_ _**There is no guarantee you'll be able to hear me, but I have a plan!**_

Her companions flinched and flared simultaneously, and both looked over at her in shock. Mercifully, Flagg Jr hadn't noticed their eyes. Tory sent across a mental image of her idea, and they nodded assent.

* * *

"I'm telling you, dude, I have no idea what you're talking about!" Hi protested, in the hope that Flagg would put down the gun.

The man opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by the door swinging open.

Ella edged her way inside, but stopped dead. _I didn't think this through!_

She had absolutely no idea what to do next.

"CIA!" Flagg barked. "This is a restricted area!"

Ella searched her panicked mind for a retort, came up empty, and blurted out the first thing she thought of. "FBI?"

* * *

The Virals had to keep Flagg Jr talking.

"Why can't you just let us go?" Tory asked, as the Virals began, very slowly, to form a sort-of-circle around the man.

"I can't take that risk." He didn't notice the movement, just as planned.

"They'll find our bodies. " Shelton said, trying to look brave.

"I'll dump them in the ocean." Flagg Jr replied, pointing a gun directly at Shelton.

"And if you're found out?" Ben started to edge subtly behind him.

"I can't be found out." He snapped.

That struck the three non-wartime Virals as odd. How could he be so sure?

Jefferson Flagg was now surrounded.

"Three..." Tory began, face and voice expressionless.

"Two..." Ben added as Flagg Jr looked on, confused - and was that _fear _Tory could smell?

"One..." Shelton finished. Flagg Jr finally noticed their eyes.

As one, the Virals ran at him like wolves seizing their prey.

* * *

"Ella?"

"Hi!" The girl smiled at the sight of her friend, but soon remembered the danger. She turned to Flagg. "Let him go."

"Why should I? He's one of them!"

"One of who?" Hi demanded.

"He's not! He's one of us!" Ella responded.

"How can you be sure?" Flagg was still talking, but his focus never left his captive.

"Because..." Ella floundered for a second, until an idea struck her. "Because _I_ am. I'm a sympathiser, or a double agent, or whatever."

Flagg paused to consider this new information, then untied Hiram.

"Thank God!" The Viral actually started kissing the ground, and Ella shook her head in mock exasperation. Their happiness was short-lived, however, as Flagg turned to Ella.

"Sit down."

"What?"

"I said, sit down." Flagg gestured to the empty seat. "You confessed to working for the other side."

"So?"

"Sit. He goes free."

Ella let the coil of rope fall to the floor and sat. "Don't waste time interrogating me; I'll never talk." _Let's just get this over with..._

Flagg aimed and started to pull the trigger, at the exact same time that Hi flared and slammed into him.

There was the unmistakable sound of a gunshot.

* * *

"It's over." Shelton said in relief. Flagg Jr had been carted off by Folly Beach PD (after Corcoran's customary insults) and he felt that, finally, life could go back to normal.

"Not for Ella and Hi." Ben reminded.

* * *

Hi stood up and dusted himself off. Flagg lay unconscious on the floor and he picked up Ella's rope to tie his hands and ankles in case he woke up. _Is Ella alright? _He ran to the chair to check.

Her eyes were closed and her breathing shallow and irregular, and a large red stain was spreading on her shirt.

"Oh my God," Hi whispered, taking it in, "we gotta get back to camp."


	13. Chapter 12

_"_Ella?"

She blinked slowly and opened her bleary eyes, reaching up a hand to rub them.

"Hi?"

"You're OK!" Hiram almost hugged her, then thought better of it.

"What's wrong?" He pointed to her other arm. She lifted it up and saw for the first time there was a length of tubing running out of it.

She'd woken up in post-op again.

"I may as well just move in here full-time." Ella complained. "What happened to me anyway?"

"Flagg shot you - turns out he's not really CIA, just psycho."

"Figures. Then what?"

Radar figured something was wrong, so they sent a search party. Flagg was handed over to the MPs and you wound up in OR. Fortunately the bullet missed most of your vital organs."

"Thank..._wait_," Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, "who dug that thing out of me? If I found out you let Frank's ten magic thumbs anywhere near me I swear-"

"Chill. Trap did it."

"Phew. I coulda died."

"I know." Hi's voice was serious. "Sure you don't want to leave?" Ella opened her mouth to reply but her companion shushed her. "Think before you give me that GI shit; you're starting to sound like Hot Lips."

Ella thought.

She thought about her adoptive family.

She thought about how fascinating she found her work.

She thought about the pain.

She thought about the blood.

She thought about the shelling.

She thought about the food.

She thought about her real family, back in good old 21st century Charleston.

She thought about her friends.

She thought about Hi. She kissed him quickly, before pulling away.

"Get me out of this country!"

* * *

Ella spent the next week confined to her bed in post-op, but during that time she and Hi were rarely apart, spending the time discussing camp news, life in 2014...and how to get back to Charleston.

"I've had a thought."

"Don't strain yourself!" Ella joked.

"What if the timeslips aren't caused by stress at all? What if it's danger?"

Ella stared at her friend a moment, before slapping him in the face.

"Hiram Moshe Stolowitski, do you have _any idea _how often this place gets shelled? We're _three miles _from the front! We are _perpetually in danger!_ We could have gone home ages ago!"

"Then we'll do it as soon as you're healed."

"No. We go next time someone decides to blow us up."

* * *

Although Hi had ditched his borrowed uniform for his denim cutoffs and hideous shirt, Ella was still in her fatigues. Her much-neglected sundress was neatly folded into her bag, along with her sandals, her phone and the bullet that could have ended her life. Frank's helmet was strapped to her head.

"You sure you'll be OK?" Trapper asked as the two prepared to make their escape.

"You did just get shot." Hawk added.

"I'll be _fine!" _Ellaprotested, wincing slightly at the pain in her right-hand side.

"Thanks for the help." Hi opened the Swamp's door slightly and began to edge outside as the sound of a small explosion came from behind the supply tent.

"What he said."

The four exchanged goodbyes, before the two travellers crossed the threshold for the final time. "Oh" Ella turned back, "this war only has two more years left in it. What happens in Korea stays in Korea." She smiled, waved, and ducked back out before she and Hi ran out into the danger zone.


	14. Chapter 13

**Hey! Sorry, this one's just a short one. There wasn't a lot I could do with it... Sorry.**

* * *

The Virals stared in shock as their two missing companions walked into the bunker.

"We're back!" Hi announced unnecessarily.

"I can tell."

"Lighten up, Blue." Ella grinned, swinging her helmet by the straps.

"Did you catch Flagg?" Tory had to know what happened.

"Yep, but there's a hole in my abdomen." Ella winced. Despite her bravado, it was actually really painful. "Did you get your stalker?"

"Naturally." Shelton laced his fingers behind his head and leaned back in his chair. "Turns out it was Flagg's psycho son."

"Wait a minute," Hi interrupted, "if we caught Flagg in the 50s, it was never a cold case. His son wouldn't have known about the murders- he might never have existed- and wouldn't have come after us cos we wouldn't have investigated. Surely you guys shouldn't remember any of it. It never happened."

The five of them thought it over for a moment.

"I suppose it might just be down to pack consciousness." Tory said finally. "We remember it because you remember it. Just another effect of the virus."

"We never figured out how the timeslips worked, either." Ben added.

"They're triggered by danger." Hi supplied. "I guess, somehow, some force we don't understand protects us from danger by pulling us into another time and place a set number of years away. If this one takes you to South Korea sixty-three years ago, it was inevitable it would pass through the Korean War."

"Which neatly defeats the object." Shelton interrupted.

"I know." Hi replied.

"Point is, we don't really know how." Once again, Ella was acutely aware of how out-of-place she looked. The now-bloodstained fatigues and boots that had been her camouflage back in Korea were no longer a way to blend in. She didn't look like Ella Francis anymore. _And I don't know how to be myself again, _sherealised. Her cover, Yankee, had been so completely adopted that Ella as she had been no longer existed.

_What do I do?_


End file.
